Taste of Abu Dhabi 2024: Day One Highlights

The culinary event of the year is here and we had a BALL at day one! From the minute we walked through the gates, we dubbed it ‘Best Bites heaven’: full of excellent food, celebrity chefs, cooking workshops, stalls and stands, fab live music, great bars and enough to keep you occupied for HOURS - literally, we didn’t stop for 11 whole hours of action - this is just day one of a wonderful weekend to come!

THE FOOD WAS EXCELLENT

With 16 fabulous restaurants in the spotlight, each serving a menu of delectable 'taster' size dishes, there is SO much to try. We put in some serious legwork today, but still have plenty more to try tomorrow! Notable mentions so far?   

• José by Pizarro’s croquetas - always a must!
• Ryba (freshly added to the Michelin guide) and their malah gahab 
• Li Jiang’s banana fritter - a delight
• Desert Lotus whipping up a twist on classic tom yum: tom yum fried rice
• Oak Room with a cracking truffle slider
• Otoro’s take on indomie

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Don't miss the stalls dotted through the festival serving up excellent desserts, baked goods, ice cream, coffee, oysters, pasta and plenty more - the big guys are awesome but the little guys are well worth a visit too! 

THE DRINKS WERE FLOWING

Looking for the perfect beverage pairing with your dish or a refreshing drink to cool down after dancing? No worries! Head to one of five 21+ licensed lounges within the event. We tasted some fab imported Czech wines and talked pet nats and all things vino with Lukas at The Bottle Store pop-up. Be sure to pop by, but if you aren’t into wine there are plenty more tipples to tempt you: margaritas, whiskey, beer aplenty (hello, Side Hustle!) and negronis were just a few of the dedicated stands this year.

THE KIDS HAD A BALL

As well as the mega kids zone (with bouncy castles and trampolines), the little ones will love the kids' cooking workshops and PLENTY of activities suitable for all ages! Try your hand at mini-tennis, spin some prize wheels, play games and take photos with some mascots and best of all: refuel as all restaurants have a kid-friendly dish on the menu. Plus, children aged 12 and under enter the event for free!

WE MET THE STARS

A foodie festival wouldn't be complete without some culinary stars, and Taste of Abu Dhabi is serving them up in abundance! We got to meet some of our favourite chefs today (stay tuned for more on this later!) and can we just say - talking food with maestros like José Pizarro, Eric Lanlard, Cameron Lamb, Jenny Morris, Fred Casagrande and Geoffroi Herin was a total treat! You can catch them (and many more) at masterclasses and cooking demonstrations all weekend long, and make sure you do: they speak so lovingly about food and have plenty of tips and tricks up their sleeves for you to take home and impress your friends.

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‍TICKETS

Tickets are available for purchase at Platinumlist.net - don’t miss out!

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